Dear Neighbors,
Over the last two weeks we have spent many hours on the House floor, a few nights past midnight, passing omnibus bills and individual bills. The omnibus bills now head to conference committees where differences with the Senate will be changed. Below is a brief summary of some of the omnibus bills that took the most time to debate.
Higher Education Omnibus (SF 5/HF 845)
The House passed the Higher Ed. Omnibus bill last Monday. The bill fails to address escalating tuition and student debt burdens. While the bill provides some investment in our public colleges and universities, it also lays new burdens on community colleges, and doesn’t provide enough to allow both the U of M and MnSCU to continue their freeze on tuition. Not only will the 67,000 students at the University of Minnesota see a tuition hike, but money is taken from the State Grant program for low-income students to make a short-term tuition freeze at MnSCU schools possible. This bill fails to invest in the University of Minnesota Medical School and lacks the administrative oversight provisions that were put in place last year.
Health& Human Services (SF 1458/HF 1638)
MPR fact-checkers confirmed our suspicions on Friday that the House majority uses $300 million of fake money to balance their HHS budget target. This is money that does not actually exist. It does not come from anywhere else in the budget, and likely won’t appear with the auditing that is proposed. It is hard to believe, but the bill gets even worse. The most egregious measure put forward by the majority this session was the elimination of the health care coverage of approximately 100,000 working low-income Minnesotans by eliminating MinnesotaCare. MinnesotaCare has been a lifeline for thousands of working families who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to be able to afford health insurance premiums found on the exchange.
Taxes (HF 848/SF 826)
The tax bill that passed the House last Wednesday contains $2 billion in tax cuts targeted at the super wealthy, instead of benefitting average Minnesotans. Republicans are talking loudly about the “middle-class tax cuts” found in their bill, but they only total about $70 a year for a single filer making $70,000. It’s a tax cut that lacks any significant impact, and even worse, it’s only a temporary cut that disappears in two years. The bill would raise property taxes for all property owners in Duluth by eliminating LGA for cities of the first class.
The centerpiece of the Republican tax cut package is a gift to big businesses. Their tax bill permanently eliminates the business property tax, which gives corporations and businesses a $5 billion tax cut over the next eight years. Owners of skyscrapers in Minneapolis and businesses like Walmart and Home Depot are the biggest benefactors from this tax bill.
Legacy (HF 303/SF 202)
The Omnibus Legacy bill passed the House last Friday, a $540 million bill that appropriates sales tax revenue from the Legacy Amendment passed in 2008 to projects around the state that improve Minnesota’s environment, water, and cultural heritage. Three projects in the bill that impact the Duluth area include the Great Lakes Restoration Duluth Harbor Project, the Lake Superior Aquarium unsalted seas exhibit, and the Duluth Children’s Museum.
During the debate on the bill, I offered an amendment to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on land acquired and maintained using Legacy funds. Neonicotinoids harm pollinators like bees that are essential parts of our ecosystem and food supply. You can read more about that debate here.
E-12 Education Finance (HF 844)
The E-12 education finance bill increases school funding by only .6% and doesn’t keep pace with the rate of inflation. Not only does this proposal waste a golden opportunity to support Minnesota’s children, but moves us backward by forcing our local districts to make significant cuts to staff budgets, increase class sizes, and decrease access to early childhood education. The majority is deserting education to prioritize tax cuts for corporate special interests, when we can afford to invest in our future.
Jobs and Energy (HF 843)
The omnibus jobs and energy bill reverses course on decades of progress made on job creation, economic development, workforce housing, and clean and renewable energy. It also repeals or weakens a number of provisions beneficial to workers and consumers in Minnesota.
Provisions within the bill all but discontinue development of broadband in Minnesota, slash job creation programs, shutter offices used to increase Minnesota’s foreign trade, reduce job retraining funds, cuts programs that help reduce homelessness, eliminate funding to protect seniors from scams, cut the wages of tipped employees, raid the unemployment insurance fund, and stop repayment of loans we were forced to take out under Governor Pawlenty.
The House version of the jobs and energy bill would gut clean and renewable energy standards. The bill doesn’t just double down on dirty energy, but jeopardizes thousands of good paying jobs in manufacturing and installation of wind and solar across Minnesota. During the debate, 71 of the 72 Republican members of the House voted for an amendment that stated they don't believe humans have any impact on global climate change.
Environment and State Government (HF 846 & HF 495)
The environment and state government bills, were passed through the House. Both continue drastic cuts to vital areas of state government. The environment bill shifts nearly $60 million out of the fund we use to clean up closed landfills, takes money from the school lands trust, and gives up on fighting Aquatic Invasive Species by cutting millions from prevention efforts. The bill also significantly overhauls the Pollution Control Agency’s Citizen Board, essentially halting the public’s ability to have a say in the state’s permitting process and allowing corporate special interests to have more say. There were several amendments to strip out provisions that benefit special interests—all of those amendments failed.
The state government bill shifts millions out of state pension funds, creates unfunded burdens and eliminates spending limits on campaign spending and contributions from PACs and lobbyists. These bills pave the way for government by and for the highest bidder and they ignore the good that government does for all of us.
The House also passed the mostly non-controversial Public Safety Omnibus Bill and the Liquor Omnibus Bill last week. This coming week we will have a lot of individual bills on the House floor as we wait for the conference committees to complete their work.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Schultz
State Representative